Male farmers cook and serve food to women as protest enters second day

As the farmers' protest for demanding increase in the compensation to the families of suicide victims and loan waiver entered the second day on Tuesday, farmers seem have taken up another challenge of fighting for women's rights and social justice as well.

As the farmers' protest for demanding increase in the compensation to the families of suicide victims and loan waiver entered the second day on Tuesday, farmers seem have taken up another challenge of fighting for women's rights and social justice as well.

Reversing the common belief of considering women as 'synonym' for cooking, the men, participating in the protest, have substituted their opposite gender for this particular task for five days.

Here, men are cooking and serving food to women protesters, besides feeding hundreds of other protesters and policemen deployed at the protest site.

The farmers have given the new slogan "Jathe auratan de pindan ton chal paye, mardan pakayian rotia' (groups of women have left villages, so men cook food).

Several male farmers have voluntarily offered to look after the work from chopping vegetables, making chapatis, cleaning utensils and managing the temporary open kitchen.The protesters have brought their ration for food during the protest days.

"Our aim is to set a precedent that the role of women is not limited to kitchen only. If women can feed hundreds of protesters, then why not men?," said Shingara Singh, president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugarahan).

He said that they have not brought the women, who are already going through pains and sufferings after the death of their near and dear ones, to cook food for other protesters.

"The active participation of women in any protest leads it to a logical conclusion. The slogan we have given means that women have come to fight for their rights and men have to look after the kitchens," Singh said, adding this would help boost the morale of the distressed mothers and wives of suicide victims.Meanwhile, Jhanda Singh Jaitoke, senior vice-president of BKU, said there was need to change the mentality of the people in rural areas towards the women, who are the ultimate sufferers in such conditions.

The farmers' union has also provided a special light carrier vehicle, which is being driven by Harinder Kaur Bindu to mobilise women across the villages in the region.Bindu, who herself is a victim of domestic violence, has now the brigade of eight women leaders, who visited the villages in Bathinda district to apprise women about their rights.

"Though we have no problem in preparing food, yet the men have have volunteered themselves," she said.

Besides loan waiver, the farmers have been demanding `5 lakh compensation and a government job to the next of the kin of the farmers who have committed suicide.